Not too much from me today, as I didn't even get to watch the Carolina outing, but I did want to revisit a post I wrote way back in June that explored the notion of Brian Burke taking a Maple Leafs GM job next summer. I really made two points: (1) Brian Burke has gotten lucky at times, in particular with his acquisitions of Niedermayer, Pronger, and Selanne, and (2) I was fine with Burke leaving, as there is a fairly open roster next year for a replacement GM to work with.

Of course, that latter point isn't looking so strong these days, as the three biggest contracts Burke has locked the Ducks into are:

So, using some ridiculous pro-rating math, thus far it's looking like the Ducks will pay some $68.15 million for this trio of forwards to score a combined 0 goals and 137 assists in 1,148 games played. That's just under $500,000 per assist, and I don't even want to mention the combined -888.

Of course, that's all pretty silly math, but the reality remains: the forwards on the Ducks with one or less points on the season are Getzlaf, Perry, Kunitz, Selanne, Morrison, and Parros. And the only thing that separates Parros from this group is (a) he's been on the ice for more goals-for (3) than the other five, (b) he has yet to be on the ice for a goal-against, and (c) he's had less than half the ice time of any of them.

I'll mention again the bizarre scoring structure: the top two lines have scored 1 goal, the bottom two lines have scored 8, and the defense has scored 4. When exactly is Carlyle going to shuffle things up?

[9 am edit -- Our good buddy Michael Dell, who hosts the LCS Radio Show where both Chen and I recently made guest appearances, was so inspired by our 80s TV devotion that he made a list of the NHL's A-Team. A pretty good list, but I still prefer my casting.]

who starts getting whacked if things start going bad?..coach?..do they trade a high profile player to send a message?

Well, I think the first panic move is one I've been suggesting for a while. Move a player like Marchant out and bring Bobby Ryan up to the big club.

I really can't see Carlyle getting the axe, nor will Giguere move, nor will Pronger or Niedermayer (not before the trade deadline, at least). And as much as I'm harping on them, I don't think the solution is to ditch Perry, Getzlaf, or Kunitz.

Nah, if there's any punishment against the top lines, it will probably be in the form of healthy scratches -- that seems to be the logical way to send a message, I think.

I'm trying to think of something witty to add to that, but it's just not working.

I watched a tad bit of the Ducks loss to Carolina, and it wasn't a bad game in any means- Anaheim controlled the third period. I was surprised the 'Canes survived.

So in the last three games, the Ducks have played good enough to win (didn't watch the Edmonton tilt, but judging from what I read it was a good performance), and yet only grabbed two points in the standings.

That's either a big cause for concern or a sign of good things to come.

Still, there's one repercussion. Between the Stars' and the Ducks' awful starts, this could be the earliest the Pacific Division has been decided in about ever.

I think we have to till about twenty games in to decide whether or not the Sharks are for real this year- as someone mentioned (Mike Chen on KK?), the Sharks schedule hasn't been the toughest thus far. He goes on to say that he's confident in the team, but with five wins over teams that were a combined 1-9-1 when we played them, it's reasonable to expect the Sharks to start stringing together some losses and the Chicken-little's to start howling.

That's just the overly pessimistic Shark fan in me talking. We'll probably get swept in the second round anyway.